Schools closed after parent expresses concern about Facebook post

The superintendent admits that "the perceived threat may ultimately turn out to be a misinterpretation of words and intent." So, please make your threatening status updates a little bit more explicit. (LoHud.com)

Comments

[buddy]

but "what if..." ?

[Emperor Norton the 1st]

They shouldve given her the Junior Crime Stopper Award during her junior high stint as hall monitor so she could move on and live her life without the constant need to police kids. The poor dear.

[RockyMtnMac]

I hate extreme knee-jerk reactions, but here in the school shooting capital of the world, all school shootings started with threats made and ignored.
I don't know what the answer is. I think closing the schools over every threat will result in our kids not getting an education, and zero-tolerance is absolutely ridiculous.. But every threat MUST result in a FULL investigation AND multiple followups. This is where the police department needs to step up, not the school administrations.

[Phranqlin]

Right, RMM. It's one thing to investigate a potential threat; it's quite another thing to panic over it.

[johnjohn]

Threat or standardized test anxiety?

[Emperor Norton the 1st]

I don't know that policing schools will fix this problem, in fact I think it may create an even more dangerous us vs. them scenario. I've felt for a long time that there is a basic principle missing in our public education system, the need to provide students with individual philosophical reasons to wish to partake in education in the first place. Without this clear motivation to even show up at school, the medium itself is going to be fraught with confrontational drama that emotionally eradicates the beauty of learning. Context is everything.

[axisofweevils]

I heard that some kid bought 500kg of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on Farmville.

[Krash]

C'mon folks, don't dodge the issue here.
The responsibility for this kind of behavior
ultimately lies with the parents. Make them
responsible for the actions of their minor
children and watch how fast the kids stop repeating
or copying poor behavior. My folks made me pay to
replace accidentally broken windows, I don't see why
the parents shouldn't be held liable under CIVIL Court
rules for a portion or all of any "damages".
You know the old adage about "Good Fences" and "Good Neighbors", well it's one of those universalities
in human interaction and applies for minors as well as livestock.

[mybrainhurts]

I wonder if that article was as vague and uninteresting as the threat.

Anyway. I'm with you, Emp. Context is everything. This is made more complicated by the fact that it's not just an educational context, it's social. And, these contexts are hierarchical. Who's the best? Smartest? Fastest? Who's got the nicest smile? Who's most likely to succeed? Who's winning the popularity contest today? Partaking in school isn't just partaking in (organized) education. There are a lot of moving parts. Addressing one in isolation probably won't fix the problem.

Oh, and Emp? I'm digging these recent posts of yours. Fewer buckets of venom, more food for thought. Cool.

[buddy]

rmm - but what if?!??!? if????? IFFFFFFF!?@@?@

[Miss-Black]

"Miss-Black" is going to hunt down each every one of her enemies Monday morning. There will be nowhere to hide. None will be spared. Oh, wait... that's Pulaski Day! OMG! LOL! WTF! No school! Get you guys l8ter!

[Charles]

Those who chose security over freedom find they have neither.

[Emperor Norton the 1st]

@mybrainhurts- Rockalicious! Let me know if I need to McClarify my reremarks :)

[Krash]

I'm with ya, Chuck.
...but I'm also listening to "Brain"
and he makes valid points about controlling kids' bullying and other barnyard hierarchy games that
happen in schools...they don't happen out of "Context", but at the same time, if Leonard Skinard, the PE teacher, and the parents' of the Jocks picking on other kids don't kick their asses to teach'em a little humility...and the disturbed kids' folks don't Listen to'em then it will just GO ON, YEAR after Year.